Ok, why is going to Heathrow bad? *Wouldn't it enable international
arriving passengers with short-haul connections, e.g. to make these by
rail, rather than by air? *


Name one.

Those international passengers currently using internal air
connections that could make use of HS2 as an alternative are very
small in number, just Manchester really.

Heathrow is terrible for land transport,
buses which take ages, Underground which takes ages and has little
space for luggage, or rail which only gets you to Paddington.

Yes, which is why local rail connections at Heathrow need to be
improved far more urgently than providing HS2.

It would be rather missing the point to give Heathrow a station on HS2
whilst you still can’t get to such places as Reading, Guildford,
Croydon, Windsor or Wimbledon by rail.